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Since 1998 families have been moving onto Hatton Park into new homes and refurbished homes that were part of the main General Hospital and the King Edward VII memorial hospital.

Hatton Park is a residential development of approximately 765 dwelling and sits in a beautiful landscape of abundant open green space and it is surrounded by country lanes and agricultural land. It also benefits from historical interest.

The Central Hospital

Parliament in 1845 forcing local authorities to provide asylums for the poor. The County Lunatic Asylum opened under the supervision of a local physician, Dr John Connolly, a Stratford man, who had risen to be superintendent of the Middlesex Asylum at Hanwell.

The first patients arrived in June 1852 and were treated under Dr Connolly’s regime of ‘moral treatment’, which encouraged patients to participate in work and social activities. The raft of work carried out at the asylum ensured that the hospital was virtually self-sufficient with a farm, laundry, water reservoir, pig farm and its own fire service.

In 1948, the asylum was integrated into the newly formed National Health Service and renamed the Central Hospital. The Central Hospital continued to treat its patients with care and compassion until the reorganisation of the provision of mental health care was introduced. This resulted in mental health services being offered at the newly built St Michael’s Hospital in Warwick and the closure of the Central Hospital in 1995.

The Hatton Park site was sold for re-development of a new village and this was carried out by Bovis Plc and AC Lloyd Limited with construction beginning in approximately 1997.

If you would like to know more about the history of the Central Hospital, there is an excellent book entitled ‘Central Hospital Remembered’ by Margaret Hunt, Jennifer Burton and John Bland. This book is filled with pictures and memorabilia of the Central Hospital and you can find it at the Warwick Library.

The County Lunatic Asylum during the 1890s.

King Edward VII Memorial Hospital

The official opening of the hospital in 1953 (left) and of the new chest unit by Mr Grosvenor in 1955 (right)